This book includes twenty case studies of World Heritage sites from around the world that explore, from a human rights perspective, indigenous peoples' experiences with World Heritage sites and with the processes of the World Heritage Convention. The book will serve as a resource for indigenous peoples, World Heritage site managers, and UNESCO, as well as academics, and it will contribute to discussions about what changes or actions are needed to ensure that World Heritage sites can play a consistently positive role for indigenous peoples, in line with the spirit of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
This volume cross-examines the stability of heritage as a concept. It interrogates the past which materialises through multi-layered narratives on monuments and other objects that sustain cultural diversity. It seeks to understand how interpretations of “monuments” as “texts” are affected at the local level of experience, even as institutions such as UNESCO work to globalise and fix constructs of stable and universal heritage. Shifting away from a largely Eurocentric concept associated with architecture and monumental archaeology, this book reassesses how local and regional heritage needs to be balanced with the global and transnational. It argues that material objects and monuments are not static embodiments of culture but are, rather, a medium through which identity, power and society are produced and reproduced. This is especially relevant in South and Southeast Asian contexts, where debates over heritage often have local, regional and national political implications and consequences. Reevaluating how traditional valuation of monuments and cultural landscapes could help aid sustainability and long-term preservation of the heritage, this book will be useful for scholars and researchers of South and Southeast Asian history, heritage studies, archaeology, cultural studies, tourism studies and political history as well.
This is a unique volume in the history of rock art studies, meant at once for the advanced scholar, serious student and the curious but conscientious layman, co-authored by K.K. Chakravarty and R.G. Bednarik, who co-chaired the Rock Art session of the World Archaeological Congress 3 at Delhi in 1994. It is a synoptic but comprehensive survey, illustrated by 221 photographs and sketches, including 172 photographs in colour. The two scholars have not only described the latest state of research on rock art, but also transported rock art studies into the realm of interdisciplinary, inter-cultural analysis. Buttressed by an indicative map of the rock art regions, a list of major up to date direct dating results on rock art, a glossary of keywords related to spatial, temporal, technological, managerial categories, and an index, this volume blends precise, dispassionate descriptions with eloquent evocations. It blends conclusions distilled from rigorous, hard headed field research with penetrating criticism and assessment of the evidence. It combines a ruthless brevity and density with extraordinary felicity and clarity of language. Above all, it is an wonderful attempt at dealing with the problems of understanding, which dog human attempts to comprehend the meaning and shape of human creativity.
Travelling Pasts, edited by Burkhard Schnepel and Tansen Sen, offers an innovative exploration of the issue of heritage in the Indian Ocean world. This collection of essays demonstrates how the heritagization of the past has played a vital role in processes and strategies related to the making of socio-cultural identities, the establishing of political legitimacies, and the pursuit of economic and geopolitical gains. The contributions range from those dealing with the impact of UNESCO’s World Heritage Convention in the Indian Ocean world as a whole to those that address the politics of cultural heritage in various distinct maritime sites such as Zanzibar, Mayotte, Cape Town, the Maldives, Calcutta and Penang. Also examined are the Maritime Silk Road and the Project Mausam initiatives of the Chinese and Indian governments respectively. The volume is an important contribution to the transdisciplinary fields on Indian Ocean Studies.
Advancing Heritage Jnnovaıions in lndia" explores !he intersection of heriıage preservation and urban innovation withiıı the Indian coııtext. This insigbtful volume brings together diverse perspectives and case studies, h.igbJightiog lıow traditi.onal practices can coexist with cootemporary urban oeeds. Tbrougb detaile-d aııalyses, the book delves into the dyııaınic relationship between urban development aııd cultural identity, offering innovative approaches to urban resilience and cult:ural conservaıion. It serves as a vital resource for scholars, practitioııers, and policymakers involved in heritage manageınent and urban development. The book is divided into two conıprehensive sections. PART J: Urbaıı lııııovations aud Resilience exaoıines historical and conternporary notions of urbaoization, tlıe role of blue-green infrastructure in clinıate resiJience, and tlıe architectural rehabil.itation of urban voids. PART il: Cultural Heritage and Conservation addresses the complexities of heritage managemenı, the regulatory frameworks surrOltnding protected monuments, ıhe visual aııd spatial significance of teınple cities, and sustainable heritage practices through circular ecoııoıny models. This sectioo also explores techııological advancenıenıs in heritage preservation and the spatial maııifestation of religious pathways. Collectively, tlıese contributioııs aim to inspire further researcb and action towards creatiııg sustainable, resilient, aod culturally eoriched urban environments in lndia and beyond.
A collection of essays and reports examining key issues in conservation and management of archaeological sites. It is divided into parts that focuses on historical methods, concepts, and issues; conserving the archaeological resource; physical conservation of archaeological sites; the cultural values of archaeological sites; and site management.
This volume breaks new ground by conceptualizing physical landscapes as living cultural bodies. It redefines dynamic cultural landscapes as catalysts in which the natural world and human practice are inextricably linked and are constantly interacting. Drawing on research by eminent archaeologists, numismatists and historians, the essays in this volume • Provide insights into the ways people in the past, and in the present, imbue places with meanings; • Examine the social and cultural construction of space in the early medieval period in South Asia; • Trace complex patterns of historical development of a temple or a town, to understand ways in which such spaces often become a means of constructing the collective past and social traditions. With a new chapter on continuity and change in the sacred landscape of the Buddhist site at Udayagiri, the second edition of Negotiating Cultural Identity will be of immense interest to scholars and researchers of archaeology, social history, cultural studies, art history and anthropology.
The book represents the culmination of a hugely successful heritage preservation project initiated by the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology. It presents extensive research on the digital preservation of the history, mythology, art, architecture and culture of the world heritage site Hampi in Karnataka, the seat of the Vijayanagara dynasty in medieval India. Further, the book introduces readers to a range of techniques developed by Indian technical research groups for digitally preserving both the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of the region. These techniques are sufficiently generic to be applied in heritage preservation efforts for other historical sites around the world as well. Technological advances have made it possible to not only create digital archives of these heritage artifacts, but to also share these resources for people to view, explore, experience, and analyze. This book showcases how cutting-edge technology can be combined with cultural and historical research to digitize and preserve heritage. It is the consolidation of work conducted under the Indian Digital Heritage project, a unique initiative of the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India. The project involved collaboration between researchers in the areas of Technology, Computer Science, Architecture and the Humanities for the digital documentation and interpretation of India’s tangible and intangible heritage. It highlights the art, architecture, and cultural legacy of the world heritage site of Hampi in Karnataka, the medieval capital of the 14th-16th century Vijayanagara dynasty. The contributors to this book are scientists and technology experts from prominent academic institutes in India such as the IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology), NIIT, and NID (National Institute of Design) working in collaboration with some of India’s top architects, art historians, anthropologists, heritage groups and multi-disciplinary cultural institutions such as the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS). Their papers will introduce readers to cutting-edge technologies from research areas such as computer vision, 3D modeling and artificial intelligence as they are employed to preserve art and culture in the digital domain. The book is divided into four parts. Part 1 details efforts and techniques for modeling and representing the tangible heritage of Hampi, such as the reconstruction of damaged structures, realistic walk-throughs, and haptic rendering. Part 2 includes chapters detailing the analysis and digital restoration of artifacts such as mural paintings, inscriptions and sculptures, as well as mobile-based visual search for artifacts. Part 3 includes chapters on conjectural re-constructions of the architectural life, social life and traditions of Hampi. Lastly, Part 4 addresses the knowledge-based archiving and exploration of cultural heritage.
